Kasie Davis is a senior journalism major from Cisco, Texas, with an interest in broadcasting. All students classified under the major are required to participate in an internship, and many learn that first-hand experience is as beneficial as any other education experience in college.

“I would love one day to be an anchor,” Davis said, bright eyed, explaining her current internship for KCBD news channel 11 in Lubbock. Davis said she tries to average 15 hours per week at the station while also attending classes and working part-time as a student assistant in the Career Center. Davis attends her internship primarily in the afternoon and has contributed several stories for the evening news, she said.

“Martin Luther King Day was a ton of fun because it was a holiday and only a small group of people came in so they kind of said, ‘We need you to find a package; now go,’” Davis said. At the end of the day, the package was aired and is now accessible on the station’s website.

Degree plans for all five majors in the College of Media & Communication focus heavily on the ability to write. “My writing is utilized a lot; I’ll go in and write opening headlines for Karen and Abner, which are our main anchors, as well as teases that introduce new stories,” Davis said.

“It’s not so much about sitting down and saying this is what you need to do, or this is what we expect from you,” she said. “It’s watching and learning and picking up the small things they do like the tone of their voice, inflections, stories, and how they react to people; then picking out things you like from each reporter, putting it together, and making it your own.”

With Davis’ graduation drawing near, she is hopeful to secure employment soon and said with this experience she will be more prepared for the industry and will have her internship opportunity to add to her resume.

“These are the people I’m building relationships with and hopefully they’ll notice my work ethic and vouch for me and say that I’m hireable and I’d be a good asset to a news station, company, or whatever opportunity comes along.”

Less than a month into her internship, Davis was offered a permanent position at the station as the “Healthwise” producer.

Major Spotlight: Electronic Media & Communications
by Morgan Spruiell, photo by David Vaughn

Todd Chambers, Ph.D.

Storytelling is the oldest form of communication known to humans. Since the beginning of time, humans have found a number of different ways to express their tales. Throughout the years this communication has been transformed into an industry of its own. Electronic Media and Communication or EMC is one of the five majors offered in the College of Media & Communication.

Whether a student is interested in behind-the-scenes production or on camera as the star of the show, professors with industry experience can help majors perfect their vision.

Todd Chambers, Ph.D., has been department chairman for Electronic Media and Communication since 2004, and last year he took on the same role for the Journalism Department. “When students graduate, they’re walking into a world where they’re going to have to wear multiple hats in the industry."

Chambers said he wants students of both majors to graduate and have some sort of media franchise to call their own. “It may be something as simple as a blog, something that they’ve done with The Hub, or maybe something with the campus radio station, KTXT FM, but we want them to take ownership in that.”

Current Electronic Media and Communication students of the college produce material everyday, and they use some of the best resources around to complete their efforts. With studio capabilities, lab access with Adobe Suite, and the ability to check out equipment, one has everything needed to get the project done.

“One of the things we try to do in this major is to provide students with the foundation areas in the industry and theories of electronic media, and then we like to make sure they have a toolbox set of skills. We want our students to know about the Web, know about photo, know about video, and we want them to have those from a technical skills perspective," Chambers said.

TASEM is a student organization in the college that meets on Tuesday evenings. Chambers is the faculty adviser and recommends students get involved. Although the group includes mostly Electronic Media and Communication majors, all students in the college are welcome to the organization. The group gets together once a month to discuss the industry and individual experiences, test out equipment, and listen to guest speakers. Whether freshman or senior, students always have something new to learn and many friends to make.

“One of the things from this point forward is I’m going to tell students everyday, I want you to write two words down, those two words are: one thing. We only get this chance, this moment to do one thing,” Chambers said. “You’ve got to focus on one thing you can take with you that’s going to help you in your career and that’s what we’re really trying to focus on here.”

In college, having a professor who is passionate about helping students learn and grow is an important attribute to succeeding in school. At the College of Media & Communication, Trent Seltzer, Ph.D., is a professor holding that passion near and dear to his heart.

Trent Seltzer, Ph.D.

Seltzer received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in political science, and he minored in mass communications. He said working in political campaigns sparked his interest in the communications side of politics more so than the political aspect. Seltzer said once he had the opportunity to go back to school and obtain his master’s degree, he focused on public relations at the University of Central Florida. Later on, Seltzer earned his Ph.D. in public relations at the University of Florida.

Seltzer, now department chairperson of public relations at the college, said he feels rewarded by helping students learn and grow in preparing for their future careers. “I like seeing the light go off in a student’s head,” Seltzer said, “like, ‘Ah-ha! I get it now, thank you.’”

Seltzer teaches Public Relations Campaigns, the capstone course for graduating seniors. He said this is his all-time favorite class to teach because he enjoys being a mentor for the students when they are so near to graduation. Seltzer has also taught the undergraduate class Public Relations Writing, and he teaches graduate courses as well.

Along with teaching many courses at the college, Seltzer is busy doing research as well. Seltzer said broadly he does research on public relations, but more specifically in the areas of politics and social media, and healthcare.

Seltzer said he finds it easy to wake up in the morning and go to work because of the difference he makes teaching students and helping them to prepare for their future careers. “It’s rewarding to see what students have gone off to do and knowing that maybe I had some small role in all that,” Seltzer said, “It’s a good reason to get up every day.”

Ad Team — Shannon Bichard, Ph.D., and Stephanie Brueggerhoff
by Stephanie Derkowski, photo by David Vaughn

Ad Team meeting

Every year the American Advertising Federation hosts a nationwide competition among college students. Texas Tech students have the opportunity to participate in this competitive contest by joining the ad team in the College of Media & Communication.

Shannon Bichard, Ph.D., department chair of advertising, is the faculty adviser for the ad team. She chooses 18 to 20 people to be part of the team and mentors the group throughout the two-semester long process.

Bichard said this year’s client is Glidden Paint, and in the past the team has worked with Nissan, Coca-Cola, JC Penny, AOL, Yahoo and Toyota as their clients. In the advertising community, Bichard said this competition is very well known and stands out to employers.

Stephanie Brueggerhoff, senior advertising major from Sugarland, Texas, is on the creative team within the ad team. She said her team is in charge of creating the copy, design and layout of the ads they use for the competition. “I get a good hands-on experience from being on ad team that I wouldn’t learn just from a book in class,” Brueggerhoff said, “and it gives me a little insight to what I’m expected to do for a creative position in the real world.”

The competition takes place in the middle of April, Bichard said, and this year the team’s district competition will be in Tulsa, Okla. At the district competition, each team has 20 minutes to pitch its campaign, as well as to hand in the campaign book the team has created during the year. “We memorize our pitch completely, and it’s rehearsed to the point where they know where they’re walking, and they use different props on the stage,” Bichard said, “all the bells and whistles, it’s amazing.”

Bichard said a common misperception is that only seniors are on the ad team, but she said that is not true. Bichard currently has freshmen on the team and chooses students from all different classifications and even majors. “If you’ve got something, a spark, I want you,” Bichard said, “and if you’re really motivated, really competitive, and have just a real love for advertising.”